


Journey into Mystery: A Choose Your Own FitzSimmons Adventure

by agent85



Series: 52 Stories in 52 Weeks [20]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bets & Wagers, Choose Your Own Adventure, F/M, ICER Shenanigans, Matchmaking, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Scotland, Sheep, Shipper Daisy, the bahamas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 10,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent85/pseuds/agent85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Mack declares that FitzSimmons will never be more than just friends, Daisy takes it upon herself to get FitzSimmons together by any means necessary. But how? That’s up to you!</p><p>In this interactive story, YOU are Daisy, and YOU get to choose how the story unfolds. Read the chapters, choose your path, then visit <a href="http://chooseyourownfsadventure.tumblr.com/">the blog</a> to suggest and vote on where the story goes next.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Begin

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to week twenty of my [52 short stories in 52 weeks challenge](http://agent-85.tumblr.com/52)! This week's prompt: a story written in second person narrative.
> 
> ***WARNING! DO NOT READ THESE CHAPTERS IN ORDER!***
> 
> Well, I guess you can, but it probably won't make sense. This is an interactive story, meaning that at the end of each chapter, you get to choose where the story goes next. To get the most out of this story, **navigate using the links at the beginning and end of every chapter**. Pick a path and see where it takes you! 
> 
> If you'd like skip ahead, [start here](http://chooseyourownfsadventure.tumblr.com/post/142777516985/chapter-1), do some exploring, and see if you can help Daisy finally, finally get FitzSimmons together after all.

“Another round, Tremors?”

You look over at Mack, with his wry smile and twinkling eyes, and throw the controller on the coffee table.

“You really could play this all day, huh?”

Mack shrugs. “It’s not like there’s anything else to do. You’re just antsy because you’ve been going from one catastrophe to another. Silence doesn’t mean that anything’s wrong.”

You pick up your beer, feeling the coolness of it against your fingers before taking a sip. You scratch at the bottle’s label with your thumb.

“Yeah, well it sure feels that way.”

Mack chuckles and shakes his head at you. “Look, I know that you’re a superhero—a literal, save-the-world-before-breakfast superhero—but even you have slow days. Why don’t you relax a little?”

You almost want to take offense, because you are many things, but you are not the uptight stick-in-the-mud that he seems to be implying you are. But then, you also feel the tension inside you, like you’ve got energy building up in your blood cells. What if you explode?

“There’s got to be something I can do,” you say, already ticking off a list of tasks in your head. “I wonder what FitzSimmons are up to?”

“FitzSimmons?” Mack raises an eyebrow at you. “I heard Coulson say that the other day. Like they’re one person, or something.”

“They are! I mean…” You pause, remembering that Mack has only seen them  _after_ , not before.

“Yeah,” he sighs, “I know what you mean. I’ve heard the stories. Still seems weird to me.”

“Well, that’s just… that’s because of how you met them. When I met them, they were like Siamese twins.”

“And I met them after they broke.” Mack sighs again, taking a sip of his own beer. “You know, maybe things will work out for them now, since Fitz is over her.”

You sit straight up. “Over her? Why would you think he was over her?”

“Because he is,” says Mack, shrugging. “He knows she’ll never feel the same way, and he’s made peace with it. Now they can be friends again.”

“Wait,” you say, “you really think that?”

“Some people aren’t meant to be together, Tremors.”

And somehow, it’s that warm smile of his that lights a fire in you. You grab your beer bottle and stand up.

“You’re wrong,” you say, “I’ll prove it to you.”

“Oh yeah?” Mack leans forward, as if he’s amused by all this. 

“How are you going to do that?”

 

[“I’m going to talk to Fitz.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16568992)


	2. Fitz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16548328))_

Maybe it’s intuition, or maybe you just know him that well, but for some reason you don’t go to the lab. Instead, you go to the hangar, and find him dressed in full tactical gear.

“You going somewhere, Fitz?”

He looks up suddenly, and you’re about to apologize for startling him when he smiles at you.

"Yeah. I mean, I’d like to. I’ve been cooped up in the lab too long.”

You almost laugh, just because it’s so like him to say that, and so unlike the Fitz you first met. But then, you’ve both changed. And this Fitz, who checks his gun without a second thought, keeps his eyes pointed to the ground.

“What are you up to?” he asks.

“Oh, nothing. _Call of Duty_ with Mack.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a heaviness in his expression, and when he sighs, you wonder if he’s remembering the days when he played with Mack. You wonder, because that was the first time Jemma was gone. He’s got that distant look in his eye, and you’re too used to seeing it these days. Even when she’s around, it’s there. Like there’s this pane of glass between him and everything good in the world.

“I know Mack can play it for hours, but some of us have our limits,” you joke, but it doesn’t seem to lighten the mood. “Besides, sometimes it’s a little too much like work.”

Fitz chuckles at that. “Yeah,” he says, “depending on the day.”

“Well, at least this isn’t one of those days,” you say, and you’re rewarded with one of his smiles. “So,” you continue, “what were you going to do, just take off in a quinjet and hope no one notices?”

Fitz shrugs. “Coulson won’t mind. I just, I didn’t feel like going on my own.”

“Well,” you say, “can I come with you?”

The smile he gives you now is a real smile, like a match lit in darkness. “Okay,” he says.

When he nods his head towards the quinjet, you follow him in, watching as Fitz slides into the cockpit and starts clicking buttons. You look around and see that Fitz doesn’t just have tactical gear—he’s got enough supplies to last a week.

“Hey Fitz,” you say, “where exactly are we going?”

“No idea,” he sighs. He leans back in the pilot’s seat and spins around to look at you. You take him in for a moment, and it doesn’t matter what Mack says, you know that he’s wishing you were someone else right now. For what it’s worth, you wouldn’t mind the idea of him and Simmons stuck in a quinjet for a few days. Unfortunately, he will have to make do with you.

“So,” he says, “where should we go?" 

 

[“What about Scotland? Do you have any favorite places?“](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16569358)

["What about Jemma's room?"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16569133)

[“Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but have you ever thought about going back to the part of the ocean where Fury rescued you?”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16824703)


	3. Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16568992)) _
> 
> (Prompt by lallicat! Congrats!)

Fitz steps back like you struck him.

“Jemma’s room? Why on Earth would I go there?”

You shrug at him. “I don’t know...maybe she’d like to come?”

Fitz almost grunts, folding his arms in what ends up being a very adorable expression of indignation. It’s that tiny spark in his eyes, the one he’s trying to snuff out, that tells you all you need to know.

“Oh, come on, Fitz!” You bat playfully at his arm. “It’ll be like old times on the Bus! Except better, because Ward won’t be there. And May won’t glare at us when we start drinking.”

Fitz closes his eyes, and maybe, just maybe he’s holding back a smile, but when he opens them, he’s as stern as ever.

“I don’t... she won’t want to go.”

You roll your eyes at him. “Come on, Fitz! How do you know unless you ask her?”

His eyes open wide at that. “ _I’m_ not going to ask her. If you want her to go, _you_ ask her.”

You stare at him a while, because something is going on behind those baby blues, you just know it. Maybe you can glare it out of him.

Or maybe you can’t.

“Fine,” you say, “I’ll go ask her. But you better not be weird about it if, _when_ she comes back with me.”

Fitz huffs. “I won’t be weird.”

You cock your head at Fitz, taking him in one last time. “Okay then.”

There’s no answer when you knock on Jemma’s door, so you make your way to the lab. The moment you open those double doors, the tension hits you like a wave. These new powers are going to take some getting used to, because you could swear that Simmons is giving off vibes—literal, vitriolic vibes—that almost throw you off balance.

“Hey there, Simmons,” you say, approaching with caution, “it’s a little slow around here, so Fitz and I thought we’d—”

“Well, it may be slow for you, but some of us have work,” Simmons spits.

You put your hands up in surrender. “Whoa, I didn’t mean anything, I’m just thinking maybe you could use a break.”

“What I could use,” she says, rummaging through doors, “is some peace and quiet. I have a very important project to work on and I—”

She turns and meets your gaze, probably by accident, and she stops in her tracks. Jemma pinches her eyes closed, and the mood shifts.

“I’m sorry, Daisy,” she says, “I’m just... I’d like to be alone right now, if that’s alright.”

“Sure,” you say, “of course.”

You turn around to walk away, but just as you’re about to slip through the doors, she stops you with a, “Wait!”

“Yeah?”

You turn and see Jemma pursing her lips, like she’s trying to hold something back. Maybe it’s her tears.

“Just, uh...” She takes a breath in and out. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

You leave the lab, but you’re not sure where to go at all. Certainly not back to the hangar with Grumpy. And it’s not like you can face Mack now.

You groan and put your head in your hands. This isn’t how it was supposed to go at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached a dead end!
> 
> [Go back!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16568992)
> 
> [Start over!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16548328)


	4. Scotland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16568992))_
> 
> (Prompt by [@inevitablyfitzsimmons](http://inevitablyfitzsimmons.tumblr.com/)! Congrats!)

“What about Scotland? Do you have any favorite places?“

Fitz looks at you like you just started speaking Swahili, but then he jostles his head around a bit, as if rolling the idea into place.

"Scotland?”

“Yeah,” you say, “I just thought … I’d get to see a new place, and you’d get a little bit of home. _And_ I’d get a fantastic guide, by the way.” You smile, but he doesn’t return it this time. Something’s just happened, and maybe it’s something that happened before you got here, but what if … “Fitz, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?”

“Wrong?” He furrows his brow. “No, of course not, it’s just … I haven’t really lived there since I was sixteen, and …” He scratches at his hairline. “There were places we went on holiday when I was young, but …”

When he trails off, it’s like a light bulb is turning on in his brain, and you wonder if maybe he wanted the light to stay off. He folds his arms.

“What about home,” you offer. “You know that pretty well, right? You visit often enough.”

His eyes snap up to meet yours. “The only way I’m taking you to meet my mum is if we’re engaged, because she’ll nag me about it until I marry you just to get her to stop.” Finally, a smile appears, a small, affectionate lift of the corners of his mouth. “And unless you’ve got something to tell me …”

“Not really,” you joke, “I mean, not that you aren’t a catch, but I don’t know how I’d break the news to Lincoln." 

"Yeah,” he says, “we couldn’t do that to him, could we? After all he’s been through.”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure he got a nasty paper cut from digging through some SSR files the other day so …”

“No, you’re right,” Fitz says, “we can’t do that to a man who’s already going through so much trauma.”

You shrug at him. “Guess we’ll have to stay friends then.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, “pity.” He scratches the scruff on his cheek for a little bit before he says, “You know what? We can go to Perthshire. It’s not like she owns it.”

You narrow your gaze at him. “Who owns what?”

“Never mind,” he says, waving it off as he turns to the controls. “Perthshire it is. I’ve never been, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find our way around.”

“Okay,” you say, taking a step back. Something feels off, but before you can say anything about it, Fitz has taken the quinjet out of the hangar and into the air. Finally, you have the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. After all, it’s not like Fitz can go anywhere. Time to prove Mack wrong once and for all.

 

[Check the quinjet for supplies. Wait, is that a noise?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16634704)


	5. Noise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16569358))_
> 
> _(Prompt by @[im-just-a-cinnamon-roll](http://im-just-a-cinnamon-roll.tumblr.com/)!_   _Congrats!)_

There’s something about being on a plane that always lulls you to sleep. And maybe Andrew would have something to say about that, but it’s still nice.

“Hey.”

You lift your head and blink at Fitz, who is still blurry. You rub your eyes.

“We’re going to land soon,” he says.

“Oh, right. I guess I should get ready.”

Fitz raises an eyebrow. “Ready for what?”

“For whatever we’re doing in Perth!”

“Perth _shire_ ,” corrects Fitz. You wave it off.

“So, it’s basically just going to be fields and sheep, right? And rain? Oh, are we going to see those little stone walls?”

Fitz rolls his eyes at you. “It’s the country, not the stone ages.” He turns back to the controls, but then shakes his hands and sighs. “You’ll need something warm, though.”

“No problem,” you say, just in case he thinks you’re going to get in the way of whatever it is he’s coming here for. “I’ll just go see if I can find a jacket or something.”

Fitz isn’t the smoothest of pilots, but you manage to get around without bumping into walls too often. You search through what you can find and, sure enough, Fitz really did come prepared. How long, exactly, did he think he could be gone before anyone would come looking for him? Surely, Simmons would organize a search party after an absence of five minutes. But you initially thought you had enough supplies to last you a week, when it’s really more like a month. Two months, probably, if Fitz had gone off on his own.

But why?

You’re just about to go back to the cockpit and ask when you hear something coming from behind you. Is that …

Is that … groaning?

Your heart starts racing as you realize that yes, it is groaning, and where are your exits? What are your weapons? You’re holding a rucksack with food and some flashlights, but is it heavy enough to …

There’s a rustle at the corner of the room, and you don’t know if there’s still groaning; the pounding in your ears must be drowning it out. What on Earth could it be? Will it try to take control of the quinjet?

Will it hurt Fitz?

You can’t take the chance. You scramble through the rucksack and yes, you did throw an ICER in there; you can breathe now. You close your eyes and remember your training, remember that you have to neutralize the assailant quickly, before it can do any damage. You breathe in and out, drawing your weapon and taking slow, silent steps to the corner of the room. You see movement and you pull the trigger out of shock rather than strategy, but still the bullet hits its mark. Whatever it is goes limp.

You step closer, still careful. You’ve seen things that even ICERS can’t stop, and there are are too many things that can go wrong on a plane this small.

But as soon as you get a clear view of what was making the noise, you immediately learn two things:

One, the source of the groaning is none other than Melinda May.

Two, Melinda May is out cold. 

 

[Confront Fitz](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16657795) 

[Hide May](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16711882)


	6. Confront

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16634704))_
> 
> _(Prompt by[@inevitablyfitzsimmons](http://inevitablyfitzsimmons.tumblr.com/)! Congrats!)_

“What did _I_ do? What did _you_ do?”

Somehow, you are standing in the cockpit, pointing a finger at Fitz, with no idea what to say next. How did you get here?

Oh, right.

You dropped the ICER and ran here like May was chasing you. Which, of course, she can’t.

“What did _I_ do,” you say, your heart racing even faster when you think of the things May would do if she _could_ chase after you, “you just kidnapped May!”

Fitz gapes at you. “ _Kidnapped_? I didn’t even know she was _on_ the plane! Why would I ever steal the quinjet if I knew May was within a fifty-foot radius?”

“What? You told me you had permission!”

Fitz pinches the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t say we had permission. I said that Coulson wouldn’t mind, because I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to find out. But _you_ had to drag us halfway across the globe with May in the trunk!”

You take in a breath, because it’s probably not a good idea to strangle Fitz right now. Somebody has to land this thing.

“If you thought we’d get caught, why did you let me suggest Scotland in the first place? We’re not even going anywhere familiar to you!”

Fitz opens his mouth, and then closes it. “I, um, I just…” He collapses into his chair and digs the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I needed to see it. That’s all.”

“Great. We stole a quinjet with May on board because Perthshire is the home of some physicist.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Well,” you say, “whatever it is, I hope it’s on your bucket list, because we’re both gonna kick the bucket about five minutes after May wakes up.”

Fitz groans and rubs at his temple. “She must have already been here when we entered the quinjet. She probably slipped and hit her head when we took off. We have to see if she’s okay.”

Fitz stands up and rolls his eyes at you before trudging off to the place you found May. He stands over her with his hands resting on his lower back before he turns to you with a question in his eyes.

“Have you ever checked an unconscious person for a head injury?”

You give him a _look_. “No, of course not.”

“Me neither.”

“We could ask Jemma,” you offer. “She’d know what to do.

You hear Fitz suck in a breath. “She’s not here," he says. “We’ll just have to figure it out.”

You employ your excellent Google skills on your phone while Fitz goes back to fly the plane, and in the end, you just have to wait for the ICER to wear off before you can do anything.

Fitz lands the plane just as May starts twitching. She looks up at you with groggy eyes.

“What’s going on,” she demands.

You swallow. “Well,” you say, “it’s kind of a funny story.”

 

[“Fitz and I think we found another Inhuman. I know that doesn’t sound funny, but wait ‘til you hear what his powers are.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16689628)


	7. Chameleon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16657795))_ __  
> 

“Fitz and I think we found another Inhuman. I know that doesn’t sound funny, but wait ‘till you hear what his powers are.”

May glares at you. “What powers?”

“Well,” you say, and you are racking your brain, because it has to be something she’ll believe, but it also has to be something you can fake. Something that has no trail, maybe? Something that is …

“Invisibility,” you blurt out.

May cocks her head at you. “That’s not funny.”

You feel your pulse beat faster. “Isn’t it, though? I mean, think of all the things you could do if you were invisible. I’d play so many pranks on people. I’d be out of control.”

May crosses her arms with an expression that undoubtedly means _I would hope not_.

“Anyway,” you say, “Fitz is landing, so… we should probably… actually, you stay here, and I’ll get Fitz.”

May raises her eyebrow, but you’re off before she can stop you, running away from May for the second time in less than an hour.

“Fitz,” you pant as you reach the cockpit, “I made up some story about finding and Inhuman that’s invisible. Be cool.”

Fitz looks up from his instruments with a bewildered expression.

“We found the Inhuman already, or we’re going to find it?”

“We’re going to find it,” you explain. “So, you’re going to have to think up some way to look for them before May gets here. Which will be any minute, actually.”

“Okay,” says Fitz, who is losing all color in his cheeks, “but what are we going to do when we don’t find this Inhuman?”

You wave it off. “I’ll think of something.”

* * *

“He’s not invisible,” lies Fitz, “but he can change his skin and his clothes to match his surroundings.”

“He’s a chameleon,” says May.

“Basically, yeah. So, Daisy and I were going to go through the town with some thermal imaging equipment, and you’re welcome to help.”

He hands a tablet to May, who inspects it, then eyes him curiously. “What’s the plan, exactly?”

“We look for any discrepancy between what we can see and what’s on the monitor. If there’s a person you can see on the screen, but not with your naked eye, that’s your guy.”

May nodded. “Seems easy enough. I’ll take the north; you two take the south. Let me know if you find anything.

”May walks off, and you find yourself saluting her.

“Will do.”

Was it really that easy? You turn to Fitz and find him staring back, silently asking the same question. You shrug at him, take your backpack and monitor, and head out to Perthshire.

It really is beautiful country, but you’re glad you dressed warm. There’s still snow on the ground, but green peeks out here and there, and there seems to be a magic about this place.

“So,” you say, “tell me again why you wanted to see this place?”

Fitz sighs, sticking his hands into his pockets. “It occurred to me today that I might never be able to see this place if I didn’t come on my own.”

Okay, now you’re getting somewhere. You have a feeling that some valuable intel is lurking under the surface.

All you need now is to ask him the right question.

__

[“You know Jemma loves you, right? Like, ‘in love’ love.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16701940)


	8. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16689628))_
> 
> _(Prompt by[@inevitablyfitzsimmons](http://inevitablyfitzsimmons.tumblr.com/)! Congrats!)_

“You know Jemma loves you, right? Like ‘in love’ love.”

The words just tumble out of your mouth before you can help it, and you almost want to scoop them up and put them back in. But it’s too late, and Fitz is looking at you like you just told him turkey was a vegetable.

“Excuse me?”

You take a breath and let it out. No turning back now.

“Jemma loves you,” you explain, catching his eyes to underline your meaning. “And I know you love her, so why am I the one here with you?”

Fitz narrows his gaze, like he’s waiting for the punch line, and eventually shoves his hands in his pockets.

“She doesn’t love me,” he says.

You roll your eyes at him. “Of course she loves you. Have you seen the way she looks at you? Heart eyes. All the time. It’s adorable.”

Fitz looks up at you, then shrugs and shakes his head.

“Oh, come on,” you say. “She’s crazy about you.”

Fitz looks at his shoes, giving you a rueful smile as he rocks back on his heels.

“If she’s crazy about me,” he says, “then why do you think she wants me out of the lab?”

You blink at him, because there’s no way he actually said what you just heard.

“What?”

Fitz draws his mouth into a thin line, and suddenly he seems so vulnerable, so frail. It’s like you could brush him with you fingertips, and he’d crumble.

“She wants me out of the lab, Daisy,” he repeats. “She told me herself this morning. She’s already rearranging everything to fill in the space where my desk is. I don’t even know why she’s doing it.”

He takes a shaky breath, and you find that your hand is on his shoulder, and you’re ducking to meet his gaze.

“Look, whatever happened, I’m sure it was a misunderstanding. Simmons would never—”

“She told me she was getting rid of my desk, Daisy. Her words.” He shakes his head. “So I don’t know if I should just move in the garage, or, I don’t know, go somewhere else.”

“But Fitz—”

Fitz sighs. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Just—just leave me alone for a bit. I’ll meet you back at the quinjet.”

You stand there, dumbfounded, as Fitz shrugs at you and walks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached a dead end!
> 
> [Go back!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16689628)
> 
> [Start over!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16548328)


	9. Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16634704))_
> 
> _(Prompt by[@recoveringrabbit](https://tmblr.co/mun9_fB74DLf83JZn12UzrQ)!_ _Congrats!)_

Okay, well.

You just ICED May.

Freaking out would be a really bad idea right now.

Of course, the only thing that could be worse is if Fitz freaked out about this. Or of May ruined all your matchmaking plans.

Why is May on the plane, anyway?

You take a deep breath and approach The Cavalry with extreme caution, but when you grab her hand and let go, it goes limp. Is she okay, though? She’s got blue veins on her neck, but that’s normal when somebody’s been ICED, right?

It’s probably normal.

You take another breath, and feel yourself begin to calm down. It’s then that you realize how uncomfortable May must be in this position. Carefully, you reposition her on the cargo room floor until she looks like she’s sleeping.

How does May still look angry when she’s sleeping?

Well, anyway, at least she’s comfortable. And she’ll be out long enough for Fitz to land the plane, but then? She’ll probably…

Wait, what is that?

You didn’t notice it before, but when you shuffled May around it must’ve… you have to slap a hand over your mouth to stifle a laugh as you lean over to pick up the ICER grenade casing.

Did Melinda May, Agent of SHIELD, knock herself out with a grenade?

There’s no way she’s ever going to live that down.

Anyway, if the grenade knocked her out for the whole trip to Scotland, it should knock her out long enough to get Fitz to do whatever he needs to do in Scotland, right? Much longer than one ICER bullet. You’ll wait for the bullet to wear off, get her with a second grenade, and be free to lead this Scottish boy right into some English arms. And hey, why not take a whole handful of grenades, just in case?

You get back to the cockpit just in time to strap down for a landing. Fitz is actually doing okay for a pilot, and you’re down on the ground before you know it. When he’s done, he turns around and seems surprised to see you there.

“Oh, um,” he mumbles, “we’re here.”

You unbuckle yourself and peer out of the cockpit windows. Sure enough, Scotland is just as charming as you expected. Not that you can see much of it from here, of course.

Fitz starts walking, and you follow him out of the quinjet, trailing behind just enough that you can crack open the door of the cargo room and throw in an ICER grenade without catching Fitz’s attention.

“So,” you say as you catch up to Fitz, “what’s the plan?”

Fitz shrugs at you. “No plan,” he says. “What would you like to do?”

__

[Sheep + your powers = fun times. Probably.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16735132)


	10. Sheep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16711882))_

It takes a little convincing, but after a few over-dramatic groans, Fitz agrees to take you to find a flock of sheep.

“That’s not all Scotland is, you know,” he says for at least the third time, “we’re more than just sheep farmers.”

You roll your eyes at him, because why would you think that? And also, it was a lot easier to find a flock of sheep than it should have been. It doesn’t take too long before you’re both crouching behind a stone wall, planning your method of attack.

Fitz turns to you with a knitted brow. “Are you sure about this?”

You shrug at him. “I’m never sure about anything.”

“Great,” he says.

You hold out your hand and try to focus on one ewe that is grazing a little ways away. She’s got a good foot or two between her and the other sheep, so she’s a perfect target. You take a deep breath, and then gently, carefully, you summon your powers and direct a vibrating force right at that sucker.

The sheep bleats like she just got her tail bitten off, and scampers towards her comrades, pushing several of them over in a mad panic that spreads from one sheep to another, until they’re all bleating at each other like the world is about to end.

You hear Fitz laugh, a deep, rich sound that comes from his belly, and it’s a relief to hear it. You find yourself laughing along with him.

“Simmons wouldn’t stand for this,” you tease, bumping his shoulder with yours, “she’d call it cruelty to animals or something.”

Fitz’s face suddenly turns solemn. “Yeah, well…” He takes a breath in and out. “Well it’s a good thing she’s not here, I guess. She’d stop us from having fun.”

“Nah,” you say, “it would be twice as fun, because she’d object to everything, and we’d do it anyway.”

That gets him a smile, and you think you’ve pushed a little far just then, so you direct his attention back to the sheep. They’ve calmed down a bit, and it only takes you a few minutes of brainstorming to create Sheep Pool, a new game that will never take the world by storm, because it literally can’t work without you.

The basic rules of the game are these: Fitz points out a certain sheep, and dares you to use that sheep to knock out a specific number of other sheep. You then try to knock out as many sheep as possible. There are no points, every shot causes mass pandemonium, and you and Fitz laugh until your sides hurt.

“Oh man,” you say as you try to catch your breath, “I really do wish Simmons were here. Just so I could see her reaction to all of this. It would be hilarious.”

Fitz grows quiet once again, though he’s not as solemn this time. Maybe you’ve gotten him into just the right mood to actually get something out of him.

 

[Burning questions must be answered. Ask Fitz if Jemma is the reason he wanted to leave the base.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16741858)


	11. Motive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16735132))_
> 
> _Based on a prompt by @[im-just-a-cinnamon-roll](http://im-just-a-cinnamon-roll.tumblr.com/). Congrats!_

You sit there for a few moments in silence, searching for just the right words. In the end, though, you come up with a simple question.

“Don’t you wish that Simmons were here?”

He looks up at you in alarm, and his hand flies to his hair.

“I, um, well… this isn’t about… her.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure?”

He doesn’t answer, but he does twist his hands as he looks off towards the horizon.

“You know,” you say, “I loved living in my van. Ultimate freedom, you know? If anything got too intense, I just went somewhere else.” You look up at Fitz and find him staring at you. He quickly looks away. “But Miles, he didn’t like that. He said I was too afraid to face the consequences of staying put.”

Fitz knits his brow and folds his arms. “I’m not afraid, if that’s what you’re getting at. I just… wanted some fresh air, is all.”

“Fitz,” you admonish, “hijacking a quinjet and flying halfway across the world isn’t just getting fresh air.” You tilt your head at him, frowning. “What’s really going on? Is it Simmons?”

Fitz pulls his arms in tighter and hunches over. “I liked this better when we were causing ovine mayhem.”

“Oh, c’mon, Fitz! It’s just you and me. Can’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

Fitz’s mouth tightens into a thin line, and he sighs at you.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

You look him square in the eyes. “Try me.”

“Okay,” he says, flicking his eyes up at you. “Simmons, she… she wouldn’t want to be here.”

You feel like you’ve just tasted a lemon. “What? Why?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says, standing up. He puts his hands in his pockets and starts walking away.

“Wait, Fitz.” You stand up and follow him. “You’ve got to tell me what you mean by that.”

He stops and shoots daggers with his eyes.“Simmons kicked me out of the lab, okay?”

You blink at him. “What?”

He shakes his head at you. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”

__

There’s no way Simmons kicked him out of the lab. Call Jemma to get her side of the story. (Coming soon!)


	12. Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _(Previously)_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16741858) 

He’s walking away, but he doesn’t get far.

“Fitz!”

“Fitz!”

He stops, but he doesn’t turn around. You approach him slowly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re right, Fitz. I don’t believe you.”

“Ugh!”

Fitz shrugs your hand away and turns just enough to roll his eyes at you.

“Hey,” you admonish, “don’t look at me like that! All I meant was that maybe that’s how you see it. But there’s no way that Simmons meant that.”

He folds his arms. “You don’t even know what happened.”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes. “Well, I know Simmons! And I know _you_ , you doofus. I’m one hundred percent sure that this is all some misunderstanding.”

If Fitz were an Inhuman, he’d probably have a glare that could melt flesh. This one comes pretty close.

“Look,” you say, putting a placating hand in front of you, “I’ll prove it, alright?”

He sighs. “How’re you going to do that?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” you say, “calling and asking her?”

“Oh, no,” protests Fitz, waving a hand. “If you expect me to—”

“ _I’ll_ do it!” Your hand goes up in what is a… Girl Scout salute, maybe? “I’ll call her. She won’t even know you’re there. I promise.”

Fitz considers this for a moment, but eventually, he nods and starts walking off.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“The quinjet,” he calls as he walks, “that’s where the comm system is.”

You hurry to catch up to him, and already your mind is buzzing with all the ways your call with Simmons could go. You’d have to have a valid reason for the call, of course. A medical emergency, maybe? Could you fake one?

By the time the quinjet is in sight, you have it all planned out: you’ll tell Simmons you stumbled across an Inhuman, and you need her help with some kind of analysis. When she starts puttering around the lab, you ask her where Fitz is, and voila! You’ll get the dirt before Simmons knows what hit her.

You’re so pleased with yourself that you jump three feet what Fitz screams—actually screams. You look at him, then follow his gaze to find something truly terrifying.

May.

“I don’t know what you were doing,” she says, massaging her neck, “but whatever it was, it’s over now.”

You should run, or _something_ , but you’re just as petrified as Fitz is. You don’t even put up a fight when she grabs you by the arm and leads you into the quinjet.“

Coulson’s gonna ground us for _a month_ ,” squeaks Fitz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached a dead end!
> 
> [Go back!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16741858)
> 
> [Start over!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16548328)


	13. Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16568992))_
> 
> _(Prompt by @[im-just-a-cinnamon-roll](http://im-just-a-cinnamon-roll.tumblr.com/)! Congrats!)_

“Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but have you ever thought about going back to the part of the ocean where Fury rescued you?”

Fitz leans away from you like he smelled something bad.

“Excuse me?”

You shrug at him. “I don’t know, I just thought that since you’ve recovered, you could face it, or something. Get some closure. Besides, isn’t it close to the Bahamas?”

Fitz brings a hand to his temple. “It’s in the middle of the ocean, Daisy.”

“Yeah,” you say, “but the Bahamas are on the way, right?”

He folds his arms and sighs at you, and for a moment, you think he’s just going to walk out. But he shakes his head and says, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Now let’s get going before I change my mind.”

You’re a little nervous at first, but Fitz is actually pretty good at flying this thing. Or he’s really good at using autopilot. Either way, you two are up in the air before you know it.

You peer over Fitz’s shoulder. “Do you know the exact coordinates?”

He looks up at you. “Do I need to? I was just thinking I’d show you the general area.”

You wave it off. “Yeah, that’s okay. I guess it’s just water.”

Fitz rolls his eyes at you, and you know he’s going to go into one of his long-winded explanations of just how wrong you are when you put up a hand to silence him.

“Okay, fine. Not just water.”

He takes a long look at you before turning back to the controls.

“I’ll get us as close as I can.”

Fitz focuses on flying, so you watch the clouds soar by, finding it very peaceful up here in the quiet cockpit. You can see why May enjoys it so much. But May is May and you are you, and after a while, you get tired of the quiet.

“It used to be so different,” you say, “back when it was the six of us travelling the world together. It was fun.”

“Yeah,” muses Fitz, “it’s all fun and games until somebody gets thrown in the ocean.”

“I know, but before then. We had some good times.”

“Yeah?” He tries to ask the question seriously, but you can see the sparkle in his eyes. “Name one.”

 

[“Well, there was that one time when we touched things that were touched by Thor. Which was AMAZING.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16836664)


	14. Thor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16824703)_
> 
> _(Prompt by @[im-just-a-cinnamon-roll](http://im-just-a-cinnamon-roll.tumblr.com/)! Congrats!)_

“Well, there was that one time we touched things that were touched by Thor. Which was AMAZING.”

Fitz rolls his eyes and shifts in his seat. “You girls and your superheroes.”

“Oh, come on,” you say, “like you wouldn’t swoon if Black Widow walked in here.”

Fitz frowns and shakes his head. “She’s a SHIELD agent, or was. Same as me. Same as May, really, and you don’t see me swooning over her.”

You fold your arms. “That’s not the same, and you know it. Besides, you got to play with all kinds of alien artifacts! That must have been cool. And it was close to home.”

“Yes,” Fitz says, glaring at you, “thank you for reminding me that an alien space ship wreaked havoc within a stone’s throw of my mum’s house.”

“Ugh, Fitz, that’s not what I meant. It’s just, you know, I’m sure Coulson gave you and Simmons some time off to visit your family.”

Fitz’s expression darkens, and his gaze drops to the floor.

“Yeah, well um, I didn’t… we only had time to…”

He trails off, seemingly lost in thought, and the silence between you is filled with the humming of the engines. It’s woefully inadequate.

“Well, anyway,” you blurt, “it’s probably the closest I’m ever going to get to Thor, considering that no one knows where he is, and the Avengers all think that Coulson’s dead, anyway.”

Fitz looks up at you. “You’ll meet Thor,” he says.

“Oh?” You tilt your head to the side, “you makes you so sure?”

Fitz gives you a bittersweet smile before making eye contact. “Because you’re gonna be an Avenger.”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes at him. “Thanks, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet.”

“You will be,” he replies, as if it’s a basic fact. “Eventually, you’ll do something that makes them notice you. Or they’ll come into SHIELD somehow. Either way, I expect you’ll be thick as thieves with them in no time. They’ll be a nuisance, coming to the base all the time to hang out with you.”

“Maybe Hawkeye will want you to design some new arrows,” you offer. “Or they’ll need new suits or something.”

Fitz waves it off. “They have Tony Stark for that. They won’t take a second look at me.”

Fitz folds his arms again, but this time it’s like he’s trying to fold in on himself. But then he turns back into the controls. Is he trying to avoid looking at you? You’re not sure what you did, but whatever it is, you’ve got to fix it. And soon, because if he’s in a bad mood now, going back to the place where Ward killed his brain cells with make him absolutely miserable.  

 

[“I could never be an Avenger. I don’t even have a cool superhero name. Unless you have any ideas.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16890037)


	15. Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16836664))_

“I could never be an Avenger. I don’t even have a cool superhero name. Unless you’ve got any ideas.”

Fitz has this way of smirking that makes him look like a little boy who got away with something he shouldn’t have. Which, of course, you could never tell him without getting an earful. But he smirks all the same, and you start to wonder just what you’ve gotten yourself into.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ve got one: Twister.”

You squint at him. “What?”

“Twister,” he repeats, “you know, like how when you, when you vibrate air in front of you, it kind of looks like—”

“I’m not calling myself ‘Twister,’” you say. Maybe this was a bad idea. This is the man who once looked at a firearm and decided that “night-night gun” was an appropriate name for it.

He frowns at you. “Okay, um, well, you could be… The Concusser!”

“The _what_?”

He tilts his head. “You know, like someone who concusses people.”

You fold your arms. “You just used the word to define the word.”

“Okay, fine,” he says, throwing his hands up in the air, “why don’t you come up with one, if you’re so clever?”

Hmm. It’s gotta be something good, right? Something that’s very… _you_. Maybe something to do with your name? Or would that make it too easy to figure out your secret identity?

Do you have a secret identity?

“See,” Fitz says with more than a little satisfaction, “it’s not so easy, is it?”

You scowl at him. “Well, I’m basically pushing things side to side really fast, right? So I’m The Force, or The Enforcer, or something.”

“If we called you The Enforcer, you’d have to gain two hundred pounds and have a side job as a night club bouncer.”

You eye Fitz and are more than slightly annoyed when he doesn’t wilt under your gaze.

“I still think The Concusser is better,” he says.

“Right, Fitz,” you argue, rolling your eyes, “because a name that you have to explain to people is _super_ catchy. Now I know why Simmons is the namer of the team.”

Fitz sends you a glare before opening his mouth to speak, but no words come out. And you’ve seen Fitz act a little flustered before, but this seems… off. And a little uncomfortable.

So you do what you always do in awkward, increasingly painful situations like these. You keep talking.

“I mean, you two are a great team, of course. The best team.”

He furrows his brow, “What, me and Simmons?”

You scoff at him. “Of course! You guys are legendary!”

“Yeah,” he says, waving it off, “but that was before.”

 _Before_. Before is the word that Mack used to describe the FitzSimmons he’d never met. And you know what Fitz means; everyone does. He means before they fell apart the first time. Before they fell into the part of the ocean you’re headed to right now.

You don’t like the idea of a _before_ FitzSimmons, so you say, “Fitz, you’re just as good of a team now as you’ve ever been.”

Fitz looks down at the floor of the plane, and you’d give anything to know what he’s thinking. Is he reliving the moment Ward pushed them out of the Bus? Is the thinking of his struggles with hypoxia? You wish you could narrow it down to a few traumatic moments, but there are too many.

In the end, he looks up at you with a piercing, inquisitive gaze.

“Why?”

You blink at him. “Why what?”

“Well,” Fitz says, clearing his throat, “why are Simmons and I such a good team _now_?” 

 

[“Because no one understands each other like you do.”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16963296)


	16. Puns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(I may have gotten a little carried away with the science puns this chapter. Physics jokes found[here](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fjupiterscientific.org%2Fsciinfo%2Fjokes%2Fphysicsjokes.html&t=MGRkNWZhNjEwZmJhMTI0OGQyMzAzZjZhMzgzNTQyY2I0MWM2OTQ5YSxxbThyWEJDWA%3D%3D).)_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _([Previously](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16890037))_
> 
> _(Prompt by[@recoveringrabbit](https://tmblr.co/mun9_fB74DLf83JZn12UzrQ)! Congrats!)_

“Because no one understands each other like you do.”

Fitz scoffs at that, folding his arms in a way that almost seems…is he trying to protect himself from you?

“You’re wrong,” he says, his gaze returning to the floor. “That’s how it used to be, not how it is now.”

You watch him for a moment, because he has to be saying this for a reason, and you have no idea what that reason could be. After all, Simmons has been back from that planet for a while now, and you really thought that they’d gone a long way towards mending their bridges. Why, then, would Fitz say that they don’t understand each other?

“Well,” you say, trying to play it off as casually as you can, “wasn’t it just the other day that you were talking about prisms, and Simmons couldn’t stop laughing?”

Fitz waves it off. “That was just…it was a joke. I told her prisms are where bad light goes.”

You shake your head at him. “I still don’t get it.”

Fitz purses his lips, then eyes you like he thinks you’re pulling his leg. “It’s a play on words. ‘Prism’ sounds like ‘prison.’ Bad light goes to prison.”

“Okay,” you say, “but I don’t get how light can be bad.”

“That’s not—” He pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Light isn’t bad. That’s part of the joke.”

“Well,” you say, shrugging at him, “I still don’t get it. I mean, I _get_ it, but I don’t get it. But Simmons did. She loves your science jokes.”

“She didn’t used to,” he sighs. He picks at a piece of lint on his shirt. “She used to just roll her eyes at me.”

“See?” you say, “you’re even more in sync these days.”

“Nah,” he says, “she’s just humoring me.”

“Or she’s developed a new appreciation for puns,” you counter, “under the right circumstances, of course. I think she enjoyed one or two of Ward’s puns right after he stopped her from falling head-first into the ocean.”

Fitz’s gaze has turned into an all-out glare. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, but—”

“I mean, she went right back to rolling her eyes at him a week later, but for a while there, she thought he was hilarious. Just like she thinks you’re hilarious.”

And you’re pretty sure you’ve laid it on thick enough—you barely restrained yourself from winking at him to seal the deal—but it’s almost like he doesn’t  _want_ to understand. And sure, even _your_ stomach is twisting a bit at the thought of that brief, mega-awkward crush Simmons had on Ward back in the day, but you think the implication that she has a crush on Fitz now should more than make up for it. Instead, his glare softens, and you watch him deflate like a balloon. He gives you a one-shouldered shrug.

“Yeah, well,” he says, “I think my week was up a long time ago.”

You give him an eye roll that Simmons would be proud of. “That prism thing happened last week, Fitz. And she was laughing when I walked into the lab yesterday.”

Fitz shakes his head. “That was nothing. I just—she wanted me to help her analyze the atomic structure of a compound. That’s it.”

“That’s not it,” you prod, “she was laughing because of something you said. What was it?”

“I said…” He closes his eyes as he trails off, taking a big breath in and out before answering, “I said, ‘Let me atom.”

“Oh my gosh,” you say, slapping a hand over your mouth. “That’s awful. In a good way, of course. But my point is that Simmons just gets you, you know? It’s more than just the science stuff. She knows how you think and what you like. And you always seem to be having these silent conversations when you’re looking at each other.”

“Yeah,” he says, rubbing at his scruff, “she knows that I like to keep my work space just so, for example.”

“That’s something you have in common!”

You expect him to smile, because he’s got to be remembering all the little squabbles you had with him when Simmons was missing, and he protected her stuff like his (or maybe her) life depended on it. It’s been long enough now that you’ve already teased him about it more than once. But instead, his expression darkens for reasons you don’t understand.

“You’re right,” he says, “she does understand me.”

He’s definitely saying one thing and meaning something else, but how do you get him to tell you what that is?

“Well,” you eventually say, “of course she does. She kept following you around until she figured you out.”

He glares at you again. “She doesn’t follow me around.”

“Of course she does,” you counter, “she’s been doing it as long as I’ve known her. It’s like she never wants to be without you.”

And that, for a reason that, yet again, is beyond you, seems to have struck a chord. He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something when a beep starts to come from the control panel, startling the both of you. Fitz flips a switch and takes a look out the windows.

“Well,” he says, “we’re here. Right below us is the place where Fury fished me and Simmons out of the ocean. What do you want to do now?”

 

[You know, you’ve only heard Jemma’s side of what happened when they were dropped on the bottom of the ocean. Ask Fitz for his version of events. ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/17046105)

[Well, you’ve seen the ocean. Time to convince Fitz to take you to the Bahamas.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/17045943)


	17. Bahamas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[(Previously)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16963296) _

You both stare down at the water, and you honestly thought some kind of answer would come to you by now. But instead, you find Fitz staring back at you, folding his arms and waiting.

“Well?”

You’re here for a reason, right? Mack told you that you couldn’t get FitzSimmons together, and somehow that lead to you standing here with Fitz, watching some random patch of ocean move with the push and pull of the moon.

Suddenly, you’re not sure what you thought you could accomplish here. Especially since unease is starting to spread over Fitz like spilled oil.

You almost roll your eyes at yourself. All you really want is for them to be happy, right? Well, this doesn’t seem to be making _anyone_ happy. Maybe you’re not good at matchmaking, but you know how to have a good time, and it looks like Fitz could use one.

“Why did you even want to come here?”

You answer his question with a distracted, “I don’t know.” When he clears his throat, you blink at him. “I mean, I don’t know what I was thinking. Why don’t we… why don’t we just go to the Bahamas instead? I mean, if we can go anywhere, it might as well be somewhere tropical.”

Fitz stares at you for a long, cold moment before he lets out a breath. “Okay,” he says, returning to the controls, “but you’re not getting me into the water. I didn’t bring swim trunks.”

“Oh, Fitz,” you say, as if he’s the most precious thing in the world (and maybe he is), “I’m sure you can buy some there.”

He groans, but you think you see the twitch of a smile as you head out of the room to gather your supplies.

You’re just zipping up a second rucksack when you’re surprised to hear a kind of moaning coming from the other room. In other circumstances, you might be nervous, but you’ve been humming Mulan songs, so what could really be wrong? You walk towards the noise slowly, carefully, until…

“May?”

She’s sprawled out on the floor, one hand held to her temple as she lies in a mess of scattered junk. You run to her side,“Hey, are you okay?”

She opens her eyes slowly, in visible pain as her eyes adjust to the light.

“What’s happening?”

“Well,” you look around you for help and find none. In the end, you simply say, “We’re going to the Bahamas.”

She raises one drowsy eyebrow at you. "Did Coulson approve?”

You nod at her. “Of course. Do you… do you wanna come?”

“I may not be a genius,” groans May as she tries to sit up, “but I’m not dumb enough to pass up a trip to the Bahamas.”

* * *

There’s nothing quite like the way your bangs caress your forehead by the force of a soft, cool breeze as you sip an umbrella-laden drink and watch Fitz chase the waves in board shorts. To your right, you see May smirk on the lounge chair, her eyes dancing with unspoken mirth as she looks over her book at him. To your left, you see the endless expanse of paradise.

Who said that slow days were the end of the world, anyway?

You chuckle at yourself as you close your eyes, content to bask in the sun until it tires of you. You drift off a little, so you’re not really sure how much time passes before you feel a strong hand on your shoulder.

“So, what were you thinking, exactly?”

You jump up and practically throw the sunglasses off your face.

“Sir?”

Coulson looks down at you with such disappointment that you can almost feel yourself withering from his gaze.

“You ran off in my quinjet and you didn’t think I’d come looking?”

“Phil.”

May is somehow just as intimidating in a wide-brimmed hat, and when she folds her arms at Coulson, you swear that the birds stop chirping.

Coulson and May eye each other, and you’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen until you hear a shrill, English shout coming from behind Coulson.

“What on Earth did you think you were doing!”

Simmons flies towards Fitz, and your only relief is that her wrath isn’t aimed at you.

“Why did you think you could just run off like that?”

Fitz’s attempt at an answer is more like a mix of stammering and gaping, and it’s not too long before she folds her arms in a huff.

“I can’t believe you just ran away like that!”

“Well,” Fitz shoots back, “well, you didn’t want me around!”

“Ugh, Fitz! That’s not what I said, and you know it!”

Simmons goes on, but Fitz talks over her with such speedy frustration that their two voices blend into a blur. Eventually, Simmons ends it by calling him a child and storming off. Fitz just stands there as the waves lap at his feet.

“So, you lied to me.”

Your gaze snaps to May. “What?”

“You said Coulson approved the trip,” she says, icicles dangling from every syllable.

“Well, I… no, I didn’t! Fitz said…”

You don’t even get a chance to explain yourself before May gets up, taking you with her.

“Fitz!” she calls, “come on!”

As you board the quinjet, you find Mack waiting for you. It’s possible that the daggers from his eyes are sharper than May’s.

“We had to fly commercial to get here, Tremors,” he says, though there is no affection in the nickname. His large biceps tense. “I don’t do commercial very well.”

“Hey,” you sputter, “Fitz said—”

Mack stops you with a raised hand. “I don’t want to hear it, okay?” He nods towards Simmons, who has her back turned towards Fitz and has unshed tears in her eyes. “If this was all about proving me wrong, well, you didn’t do very well. And you made us all worried sick.”

You watch as Mack walks off, and honestly, you never thought it would end like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached a dead end!
> 
> [Go back!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16963296)
> 
> [Start over!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16548328)


	18. Ninety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[(Previously)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/16963296) ___

You both stare down at the water, and you honestly thought some kind of answer would come to you by now. But instead, you find Fitz staring back at you, folding his arms and waiting.

“Well?”

You’re here for a reason, right? Mack told you that you couldn’t get FitzSimmons together, and somehow that lead to you standing here with Fitz, watching some random patch of ocean move with the push and pull of the moon.

Well, it’s not a random patch of ocean. It’s the patch where two of your best friends almost died.

To be precise, it’s where they were almost murdered by a man who once had his disgusting lips on yours.

You shudder at the thought, but the more you think about it, the more it strengthens your resolve. FitzSimmons survived. It has to be for a reason, doesn’t it? If anyone is meant to be together, it has to be the two of them. But this is also the place where they started to fall apart, so maybe coming back here can set it right again.

“Fitz,” you say slowly, carefully, “what exactly happened here?” He looks up at you, eyes searching yours for an explanation. “I mean,” you say, “Simmons never said much. Just that you got hurt making sure she got out.”

His eyes dart away.

You watch him, waiting, until you say, “Well? What happened?”

“Nothing!” His hand flies to his temple. “She’s the one who figured it out, anyway. I just followed orders.”

You level your gaze at him. “Fitz, I know Simmons wears the pants in your relationship—”

“Hey, now!”

“—but you’re not some lackey. You two were FitzSimmonsing, weren’t you? She had an idea, and you made it better. You thought of things she didn’t think about.”

Fitz lets out a breath and cards his fingers through his hair. “I thought of a lot of things she never thought about.”

“So,” you say, cocking your head at him, “you guys found a way out of there together.”

Fitz nods with a little too much enthusiasm. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. It’s just, we had limited resources. I had a broken arm anyway, so there was really no point in…” He ducks his head.

“You didn’t think you were going to make it out,” you say, putting the pieces together.

Fitz doesn’t answer as much as he looks up at you, and there is such a pain in his eyes that you almost take a step back.

“But you did,” you remind him, “Simmons made sure of it.”

Fitz lowers his eyes and smirks. “She did what any SHIELD agent would do.”

“No Fitz,” you say, shaking your head, “I read the handbook, and that’s not in it. You don’t bring someone up eighty feet of ocean because you’re following protocol. You do it when you care about someone. A lot.” You smile, remembering the way Simmons had held his hand when Fitz lay unconscious in a hospital bed. “She cares so much for you, Fitz. Enough to do the impossible, just to keep you around.”

You hear Fitz take in a shaky breath. “Yeah. well, things change.”

And for some reason, you’re not thinking about Simmons; you’re thinking about Miles. Miles ended up being a scumbag, but he still—if he were at the bottom of the ocean—

You’d save him. Even though you don’t want to have anything to do with him ever again, you’d save him. And Simmons, well, you know what Simmons wants.

“No,” you say again, “things don’t change that much. People don’t just stop being that kind of important to you. Look, I don’t know what happened between you two, but I don’t think it’s as bad as you think it is.”

Fitz stares out at the ocean’s billowing waves, like the answer is out there somewhere, but he has to know that it isn’t. He has to feel the same emptiness you do.

“Ninety feet,” he finally says, pushing the words out like a sigh.

“What?”

“She brought me up ninety feet, not eighty. It was so far, I didn’t—” He puts his hands in his pockets and kicks an imaginary rock. “I thought I’d never see her again. Or anything, I guess.”

You try to stop the smile from taking over your face and manage to contain it to one corner of your mouth.

“Sounds like sometimes you think things are over when they really aren’t.”

He stands there for a while, mulling it over, and you let him take his time. His mouth twitches every once in a while as the argument he’s having with himself leaks out. Eventually, he clears his throat and nods.

“Okay,” he says, turning to you with timid eyes. “If that’s true, then, um… what do we do now?” 

 

“Fitz, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on before I know how to help you.” (Coming soon!)


	19. Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [(Previously)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7287409/chapters/17046105)
> 
> (Prompt by [agentcalliope](https://tmblr.co/maFo2PCp67WUBNKQZ9T2mYA)! Congrats!)

“Fitz, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on before I know how to help you.”

Fitz groans and turns away from you. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says.

You shake your head and sigh at him. Isn’t this the reason FitzSimmons have so many problems? They spent so much time learning about atoms and circuits that they never had time for anyone to teach them about feelings.

“Fitz, look, it’s just you and me, alright? I want to help.”

You can’t see him, but you know he’s rolling his eyes. His whole body deflates when he lets out a sigh.

“She wants me out of the lab, Daisy. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

You scoff at him. “What are you talking about? You guys have been awkward science flirting for weeks! There’s no way that’s really what she wants.”

He shakes his head, still turned away from you, and you immediately regret your outburst. To make up for it, you walk forward carefully, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Fitz,” you say, “Simmons couldn’t live without you.”

“Yeah,” he says bitterly, “except she did.”

Oh, so that’s what this is about? Have they still not talked about everything happened when Simmons was stranded on that planet? Or is this still about her time at Hydra?

Is it all of it?

Well, neither of them have talked to you about it, either. And you could go into all of that, but is that what Fitz needs right now? Or does he need to act?

“So you do this? You run away?” You think about all the supplies he packed, enough to last him months, and something clicks. “Did you ever plan on coming back?”

He shrugs your hand away, and you can only imagine all the thoughts and feelings swirling around in that big brain of his. Does he see how ridiculous it is? Can you make him see it?

“Fitz?”

He pulls at his hair with both hands. “It’s too much, Daisy. She knows that. She told me herself! It’s… it’s too much. I can’t do it again.”

“Hey,” you say, walking around to face him, “what were we just talking about? You can’t just assume that it’s over and give up! Did she say she wanted you out of the lab?”

He’s staring out at the floor, and when a single tear escapes from his lashes, he sniffs. “It’s not what she said. It’s what she did.”

“Fitz, what she did was bring you up from the bottom of the ocean. And she sat by your bedside for nine whole days until you woke up again! She was out of her mind trying to help you, Fitz. She even went to Hydra because she thought it would help you.”

He massages his temples, and the unrestrained anguish in his expression breaks your heart. “She left me.”

You shake your head at him. “She thought it was the right thing to do. So what if she was wrong? Her heart was in the right place. Have you ever considered how hard it must have been for her to be without you? You have to know, because it was in her eyes when she came back from that planet. When you came back from that planet.”

You let out a breath and pinch the bridge of your nose with your thumb and forefinger. They’ve been through so much! Why do they always insist on dealing with it separately?

“Sure, she makes mistakes sometimes. But you know what? So do you! So do I! So do all of us! And I don’t know what Jemma could have possibly done to make you think she didn’t want you, but I promise you that her heart was in the right place. I know you’re scared, but there has to be a part of you that knows how much she cares about you. You know her too well.”

You wish you didn’t know this look on Fitz’s face, this attempt at being brave while tears stream down his cheeks, while he’s shaking like the scared boy that’s still inside of him. “She brought in new equipment,” he whispers, “I told her there was no room for my desk anymore, and she… she laughed at me. She said that was the point of it.”

“Fitz,” you soothe, cocking your head at him, “I’m sorry she made you feel so small, but I’m telling you, there’s no way she meant it that way.”

He folds his arms and sniffs again. “That’s just a hypothesis,” he says, “there’s no way to prove it.”

Oh, but you know a way.

 

Next Chapter: Talk Fitz into recording a video letter for Jemma that expresses how he feels. (Coming soon!)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [recoveringrabbit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/recoveringrabbit/pseuds/recoveringrabbit) for helping me nail down a title for this one (again)!
> 
> I regularly post sneak peeks and general ramblings about my writing on [my tumblr](http://agent-85.tumblr.com/tagged/Writings%20of%20Agent%2085).
> 
> And the rest of this story is being written [here](http://chooseyourownfsadventure.tumblr.com/)! Come check it out!


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